Written by: Arnold Furious
Ok, so night one wasn’t much fun. Painful at times. It’s probably the least entertaining PWG card to date. But I’m good to you people so here’s night two. The aim of this tournament, if you remember from night one, was to crown PWG’s first tag team champions. It seemed excessive having so many teams involved when PWG doesn’t have that many tag teams in the first place. Did M-Dogg 20 & Babi Slymm deserve a spot? Or Phoenix Star & Zokre? Or Hardkore Inc? Or the Ballards even? Disco Machine & Rising Sun? Come on!
January 25th 2004. We’re in Santa Ana, California. The same night as the Royal Rumble, the very mention of gets booed, which is strange considering who won it that year.
Quicksilver/Chris Bosh v X Foundation (Joey Ryan/Scott Lost)
Quarter-final. Bosh’s team has a few other scrubs out here to watch their back in case Excalibur feels inclined to get a measure of revenge for their behaviour. Speaking of which Excalibur just comes right out here for a chat. He says Commissioner Paul T is on an important “rice harvesting mission” in Japan so he’s the law tonight and he’s banning all minorities from ringside, which includes all the guys out here with Bosh. I’ve never really stopped to question why the face group is called the X Foundation. They have an X-Men knockoff deal with the clothing. Bosh plays up his heelness by standing in the middle of the ring laughing at his own quips, which gets him laid out. The heels then miss tandem fist drops. And for their next trick they’ll ride Penny-farthing’s down to the music hall. Heat on Lost follows shortly. So, “Photogenic” Chris Bosh? Since when were moobs photogenic? I’d know from personal experience you don’t want to go around with your shirt off if your torso is lacking definition. This is good advice. You didn’t see Meatloaf running around with his shirt off in Fight Club now did you? Quicksilver goes blatantly low and the ref…does nothing. What good are rules if you don’t enforce them? A low blow, being illegal, would be a disqualification. But hey, it is Patrick Hernandez. Never hire anyone who worked for XPW. That’s my motto. I’ll allow Super Dragon. Quicksilver goes low in front of the referee again…who cautions Joey Ryan for not being in his corner. See now I don’t give a fuck about the match. Nice one. There’s a way to work heel in a tag match and cheap without the ref seeing. If you cheat and the ref sees it and does nothing then no one wins. No one gets over. Which is why this match has ZERO heat because neither of the heels could work their way out of a paper bag. It doesn’t help matters that when Ryan gets the hot tag, to no reaction, he telegraphs every single move he does. It’s meant to look remotely like it’s real. The scrubs run in and take out Ryan that the referee somehow misses because he sucks…like the booking. That gets 2. Lost gets himself tagged back in now completely fresh after all of 30 seconds on the apron. He cutters Bosh onto Quicksilver, which would be good if it didn’t look convoluted. The kickout from Quicksilver is a nice touch though. Ryan getting tagged between the ropes isn’t legal. Once again Hernandez either doesn’t care or doesn’t know the rule. Although if he won’t enforce low blows he isn’t going to pick on something like that. X Foundation finish Quicksilver off with a Sidewinder. ¾*. These heel mob just absolutely suck. Bosh is quite funny but he isn’t using that and everyone else in the heel faction is a scrub.
POST MATCH The heels beat down the faces, which is as it should be, and Excalibur & Disco Machine run in for the save.
The crowd shots are pretty embarrassing for PWG. They just weren’t drawing this weekend. The double shots were extremely ambitious. I’d like to point out as well that continuity wise Excalibur doesn’t like Joey Ryan to the point where he cost Ryan a match with Super Dragon and yet saved him here and they were chums again. Wouldn’t it have made more sense to have Quicksilver & Bosh wrestle a team they were fonder of?
Havana Pitbulls (Rocky Romero/Ricky Reyes) v Double Dragon (Bryan Danielson/Super Dragon)
Double Dragon are the best tag team ever. It’d only be better if they added heel Jushin Liger as a third man. “You suck American Dragon” yells a fan and then blames someone else because of the look Danielson gives him. His blaming causes Danielson to break, which is a first I believe. At least that I’ve seen. Romero makes the mistake of boot scraping at Dragon who then tries to remove Romero’s foot. They go to the mat and the countering isn’t pretty but it’s harsh, which is just as good. Dragon elbows at Reyes but Reyes actually knocks him on his ass and hits a spinal tap. THAT upsets Dragon and he retorts. Danielson is in to overpower on the knucklelock. “MERCY” – wiseass fan. Romero respectfully gives Danielson space. What does Danielson do? Handshake AND A BITCHSLAP. Heh. Good Ol’ JR would be talking about how dragons don’t make good pets or some shit. Crowd loves Super Dragon regardless of his dick heel status. He somehow gets suckered into the Lady in the Lake by Romero. Just stamp on his face dude! Dragon is being almost pleasant so far tonight. At least Jabberjaw has taken over refereeing duties so I don’t have to watch Patrick Hernandez out there. On the downside Dragon doesn’t seem to be feeling it tonight. The Pitbulls are actually the ones showing off for a change. Their double teaming is inspired, interesting and purposeful. They’re also hitting stuff so fast and changing so often that Dragon can’t get a footing in the match. That is until Romero misses a missile dropkick and Danielson tags in. And wouldn’t you know it; he’s in a bad mood. Romero is up for the challenge and copes with the forearm uppercuts to the point where he’s beating Danielson at striking. The idea behind this whole match is that the Pitbulls are the better team and this is where they have the advantage. Danielson hits a dragon suplex for the pin out of nowhere as Dragon missed his cue to charge across the ring and Reyes missed his cue to come in. Oops. *1/2. Felt like half a match. And not the good half.
POST MATCH Dragon dishes out a STIFF handshake to one of the ringside fans. The dude lives the gimmick.
Samoa Joe/Puma v Strongstyle Thugs (Homicide/B-Boy)
I bet Joe was thrilled to hear he’d be teaming with Pinoy Boy. Joe won the first round match practically by himself. Everyone is working babyface in this one, which creates a decent dynamic. Puma just about hangs with B-Boy and tags are made. The crowd is amped for Joe-Homicide as it’s the money match up. It’s also a challenge for Joe after his easy first round. Joe slaps and kicks at Homicide so Homicide double legs him. Joe goes all shootstyle in defence by grabbing an armbar and switching to a crossface then chaining into a half crossbow. Joe switches down to the leg and steps on Homicide’s head before letting him go in disrespectful fashion. They trade standing and ‘Cide takes it with an eye poke. It’s the one thing you can’t train to protect from strikes. Well that and the groin. B-Boy tags in and Joe totally no sells him. I think we have our dynamic in this one! Puma comes in instead and the crowd just dies. They want Joe! The match seemed to drop right down to basics as soon as the tag was made and the crowd felt the difference in quality. Joe has his way with B-Boy so Homicide strolls in to casually punch him in the face. Joe takes it out on B-Boy with the BOOOOT SCRAAAAAAAAPES! Joe does those headbutts where he hits the back of his hand. So it’s like a headbutt AND a punch. Double the power. S.T.JOE! Puma tags in and gets laid out. Can you say “weak link”? Puma tries for a tag and he can’t even do that. I don’t really see the sense in a protracted heat segment on Puma because we know he’s not in the same league as the likes of Homicide and we’d like to get on with the tournament ideally. After all Joe has to keep saving his bitch ass. I guess if you’ve paid for Joe then you want him wrestling for a little while even if he’s just standing around on the apron. They run a bad spot where the Thugs hold Puma in place for a baseball slide but seeing as it sets up Joe’s ELBOW SUICIDA I can forgive it. Puma tries to get some offence in so Homicide kicks him in the head. KNOW YOUR ROLE! Puma goes up top, which to Homicide is like screaming “please give me an Ace Crusher off the top rope” and, as if by magic, one appears. Joe gets the tag though and powerbombs Homicide into the STF. All a little loose. Puma stops B-Boy coming in. Oh he DOES have a use! Joe is screaming at Homicide and he’s using some very unpleasant words. Crowd chants Homicide and he makes the ropes to oblige. HEAD DROP BACKDROP DRIVER!!! B-Boy has to save this time. Where were you on that on Puma? Jackass. Homicide considers a lariat on B-Boy but Joe cuts him off. Homicide then goes blatantly low thus making the ref look like an idiot again. COP KILLAAAAAAAAAA finishes immediately afterwards. **. I’d question the point of having Puma knock around with the big boys. Yeah, he’s probably learning a little but he’s just not in their league. Maybe B-Boy but not the big guns. The finish wasn’t in the context of the match either with the babyface Homicide cheating to pin another babyface. A nice bit after the match where everyone shakes hands bar B-Boy who remembers Joe no selling him all match and slaps the Samoan across the kisser. OOOOOHHHH!
Iron Saints (Sal/Vito Thomaselli w/Sir Samurai) v CM Punk/Chris Hero
Talking of talent gaps there’s one in this match. Punk & Hero are probably more than a match for any team in this thing bar Double Dragon. Which, incidentally, would be my final. Not PWG’s choice but mine. Vito has problems chaining with Hero who’s a far more technically sound competitor. Punk does a similar job on Sal. Although Punk wore those shorts in the ring for so many years they look really odd to me now. They don’t look like wrestling attire. I think he was wise to switch over to trunks because he has enough character without the shorts as well. Hero starts working at Vito’s arm and it’s already the beginning of the end of the less experienced team. Punk has no problems following Hero’s continuity. I note they’re working the arm with all the tattoos on it. It must make for an easy quick identification. Sal gets a tag but they pick him apart too. Hero eyes up a cravat and follows up with knees to the midsection. Punk with a stalling suplex to show off his power. The Iron Saints finally get going when they manage to double team on Hero. I think they must have taken about 7 or 8 minutes of abuse right off the bat there. I’d question booking Sir Samurai to do this show. He’s not even moved at ringside as yet. What use is that? Hero comes back and manages to beat up both Thomaselli’s, which kinda shows the gap again. They double team again to try and pick off Punk and he beats them both up as well. Why is this match still going? They have more than enough weapons to finish these two guys off. This is one of my major beefs with Indy companies. Not everything has to run 10 minutes+. Sometimes when the WWE books a 6 or 7 minute match it’s because the talent doesn’t have the ability to do longer and keep it interesting. Case in point courtesy of the Iron Saints right here. PWG has only cut one match short tonight and that was featuring Double Dragon. HEATHENS! Punk does some great selling where he gets a bad arm and elbows his way out of trouble but a) they don’t do much because he can’t hit as hard and b) he only ends up hurting himself. The Iron Saints keep working the arm over but they go for pins. Really an arm won’t reduce your capacity to kick out of a pin. It’s more of a submission situation. Both Thomaselli’s look a little awkward in there but not as much so as Puma or say the Ballards on night one. They do seem to be learning from this match during it. Unfortunately it stopped being interesting a long time ago and it’s still rumbling on. I guess they need Punk & Hero fatigued for the semi-final to justify jobbing them out. Although Hero is still throwing Thomaselli’s around like they’re going out of fashion. Punk can’t get the guy up for his backbreaker because of the bad arm so Hero sets him up instead. WELCOME TO CHICAGO, MOTHERFUCKER. Vito than manages to drop Punk on his head, which I’m sure he’ll be hearing about later. Hero then sets Sal in place for Punk to Shining Wizard him. Hero’s Welcome and Punk adds boot scrapes. Somehow that’s NOT the finish. Ok, had way more than enough now. Sal hits his short piledriver on Hero for 2. Samurai helpfully tells him to “do it again”. Earn that money, sir! Sal gets set up for the finish and the Doomsday Blockbuster finishes. Sal landed right on his neck. Ouch. **1/4. Best match of the round, which isn’t saying much sadly. I never got the feeling that the Iron Saints were capable of winning. So why let the match run so long? I don’t get it. Either provide stiffer competition or just have them win quicker.
Semi-Finals
X Foundation v Double Dragon
Polite applause for Double Dragon although they’re blatantly playing heel against the underdog duo. Super Dragon in particular acts like his usual jerk self by chasing some poor kid around the crowd. He has to come back in because the ref starts the match. Danielson publicly calls out “that black man” and holds the ropes for the same poor kid. Crowd chants “chicken” at the kid when he doesn’t move. Don’t fuck with Double Dragon! Danielson starts with Ryan and just has too much in the way of technique for Joey to compete with him. Danielson makes a point of taking the leg apart and then when Ryan can’t get away tying up his arm around the back too. Lost goes in to break it and Danielson ignores him so Scott has to kick him 10-12 times to break the hold. Heh. You kick like a bitch! Danielson is like Chuck Norris tough. I like how because Lost is in Super Dragon also comes in and kicks away at Ryan. Hey, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. The X’s pick off Danielson’s arm and start using the one advantage they have in this match; they’re an actual regular tag team. So their continuity and tagging is great. Unfortunately whenever Danielson gets one of them alone they’re fucked. Lost nearly loses to an armbar but he’s too close to the ropes and manages to survive. Super Dragon has seen enough and tags himself in. While he doesn’t have Danielson’s moveset he makes up for it by being such a total dick. He mounts Lost and starts firing away with short range strikes. Lost turns that over but gets caught in an armbar. This is very MMA style. It kinda works better than anything I’ve seen in the majors because it feels organically like part of the match and it looks good. Joey makes the mistake of stomping on Dragon and Lost adds in a boosted double stomp. Super Dragon is NOT going to be happy about that. Double Dragon both bail and gets dropkicked INTO THE CROWD. I mean, they just wiped out the first two rows where fans were sitting. Danielson breaks out the AWESOME comedy by having a little mini-match with a chair. He gets the better of Ryan again and ties him up at both ends with a sick leglock and facelock. Not content with that, and probably remembering the stomps, Dragon strolls in to kick Joey in the ribcage. These guys are awesome. Danielson starts dismantling the knee and Dragon double stomps the knee off the top rope. I knew that stomp was a mistake Joey. He gets leglocked and needs the ropes to save him. “He has till five referee” – Danielson from outside. CURB STOMP~~~~!!!!!! YES! THAT is what you get for stomping Super Dragon! Joey Ryan proceeds to get the living hell beaten out of him and every time he tries to come back Danielson grabs his leg again. Danielson places Ryan over his knees and Dragon DOUBLE STOMPS HIM OFF THE TOP! These guys are just awesome jerks. Dragon continues the assault on the knee. VIOLENCE PARTY~~~~~!!!!!!!!!!! FOUR SPINAL TAPS, KNEES TO THE FACE and after all this Joey basically punches Dragon off him. Joey is clearly pissed and comes back with his own VIOLENCE PARTY. Tame Spinal taps kinda ruin it so Dragon bitchslaps him and KILLS HIM DEAD with a LARIATOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! But Joey no sells it and hits his own LARIATOOOOOOO! Someone’s been watching All Japan. Both guys down after all that abuse obviously. Tags made but Danielson gets caught with the Superman Spear and the Hurricane Kick. Lost unleashes some of his most potent offence in quick succession. He gives Danielson too much recovery time though and Danielson just kills him with a forearm uppercut. They start trading Enzuigiri’s, which is more Lost’s game than Danielson’s but Lost makes the mistake of believing he now has time to go up top. Danielson armbars him off the top rope and Dragon tags in for the kill but Lost sees him coming and superkicks him for 2. Ryan gets the tag and Rolls with the Germans. He can’t finish with a Northern Lights though BECAUSE HIS KNEE IS FUCKED. Psychology and selling Joey? Colour me impressed. He hits a release German instead therefore negating the need for a bridge that he can’t do. That gets 2. Up top and Joey wants something up there but Dragon bitchslaps him so hard he falls off. Missile dropkick/senton combo from Dragon. LIGERBOMB INTO THE BUCKLES! STF! And you know Joey’s knee is fucked so he’s in trouble here. Danielson prevents Lost getting in but Ryan has the ropes. Good ring awareness from Joey as well. Back to the ropes and this time Joey gets his swinging neckbreaker off the top. That pinned Dragon once but only when he did it to the floor. This time he also has Danielson to worry about who casually strolls in and beats the shit out of him. X’s surprise Danielson with the Sidewinder but to be fair Lost still has bags left. It’s Joey who’s completely knackered. Danielson rolling forearms Scott back to the Bronze Age. Dragon lariats him to the land of fire and ice and Danielson adds in to the Cattle Mutilation, which you’d better believe finishes Lost because he has a bad arm from Danielson’s earlier abuse. KEEN! ****1/4. Fucking great match. So much fun with the heels just sticking it to Joey at every turn and setting their finish up long in advance of it happening. Plus it had a couple of violence parties and a curb stomp. No complaints.
POST MATCH security has to stop Super Dragon from killing that poor kid from earlier.
Strongstyle Thugs v CM Punk/Chris Hero
Punk & Hero had a rather long outing in the quarters but both guys are ironmen so that shouldn’t be an issue. Homicide & Hero start it out and Homicide gets lulled into the ground game where he’s outmatched. He realises this and gets the ropes to stand it back up. He considers some headlocking but Hero gets out so he tags out to B-Boy. Feeling out process~! B-Boy gets caught in the cravat right away, which is bad news around Hero. Again the ropes have to save and Hero seems to be enjoying himself in there. He shows some incredible skills on the mat to just roll B-Boy around at will and nearly scores a pin with a nice roll up. Punk comes in but eats a boot to the face and tags right back out. It’s suggested here that the Punk/Hero team may not be on the same page. But it would have been nice to get a hint of that in the previous round in a match that needed an x-factor to make it more interesting. Hero schools B-Boy some more so Homicide has to come back in. He gets into the standing counters now having been observing Hero from the apron. When it goes down to the mat though there’s almost no way to contain Hero because he knows so many holds plus he’s big and fast. Homicide is aware he can’t win the match down there. So he cheats. He pokes Hero in the eye to set up a headlock. But Punk sneaks in on the blindside and thumbs Homicide in the eye to the crowd’s general amusement. Homicide wants Punk in there because of that and he also wants a test of strength. Punk consults referee Jabberjaw but loses the test anyway. Never listen to Jabberjaw! Homicide now has a target he can live with. He’s had plenty of experience against Punk and can cope with him on the mat. He also singles out the arm for abuse giving Punk a distinct disadvantage. Hero shouts moves in but Punk ignores him perhaps again showing the divide between them. Punk reverses his own way and dumps Homicide on his head. That seemed excessive. Hero wants in as Homicide bails to lie around on the floor. He looks hurt. B-Boy is concerned as Homicide tries to shake it off. Punk has to leave the ring to stop a count out and I think he’s actually knocked Homicide out. Punk down for a chat and to his eternal credit he’s still selling the arm. B-Boy sees the opening and kicks Punk in the arm. This gives both guys breathing time inside the ring and Homicide is just about starting to shake the cobwebs out. B-Boy sees the bull’s-eye on the arm and takes it apart with a level of aggression you don’t usually see from him. It’s like he knows he has to step up and fill the void left by Homicide’s head injury. Can’t help but think it was somewhat careless of Punk to head drop Homicide like he did. B-Boy with a snap suplex for 2 right into an armbar. Punk needs the ropes to save. Homicide has now been bought enough time that he can come back in. But the bonus for the Strongstyle Thugs is that B-Boy totally stepped up when he was needed. Compare that to the performance of some other lesser partners in this tournament (Puma for example) and that’s why they’ve gotten this far. The thugs still have no answer for Hero’s unorthodox and at times explosive style though and when he tags in he soon puts his team back in the driving seat. Homicide catches him with an Ace Crusher out of nowhere and Punk has to come back in but he’s nursing a bad arm and can’t do anything. B-Boy is able to pick him off with a DVD and that would have been an acceptable finish but Hero saves. We get a few Shining Wizard’s and everyone is down. Hero looks for the Hero’s Welcome but B-Boy avoids it and scores huge with a dropkick to Hero’s face eliminating him. This allows the Thugs to armbar Punk into submission at their convenience. ***. The Homicide bump wrecked a lot of the build up but to their credit the armwork wasn’t lost and they took the match through to its natural conclusion.
PWG title/Elimination Rules – Frankie Kazarian (c) v Babi Slymm v M-Dogg 20 v Jonny Storm
The immediate downside to this match is there’s no way Kaz loses his belt to any of these guys. No one has earned the shot and the match feels tagged on so the champ is involved on the show after his time-limit draw with Adam Pearce the night before. M-Dogg is probably his biggest threat and he has help as hew tagged with Babi the night before. Storm gets the mic to show us what gangsta rap he’s learned during his 2 weeks in the USA. Kaz dances to make sure he’s not upstaged. Oop, Jonny got served. M-Dogg with breakdancing. Are we taking this title seriously guys? Of course referee is Patrick Hernandez so he just lets it happen. Everyone ends up dancing with Storm pretty much winning eventually. Patrick Hernandez not only can’t referee, he can’t dance either! I’m so harsh towards Patrick but really, XPW. Storm and Kaz start, which kinda makes me wish they were having a one on one match for the title. Storm has a bit of British style in his game, which sets him apart from the other spot guys you can hire. He’s seen as many Johnny Saint tapes as Doug or Nigel. His execution is a little less fluid but at least it gives Kaz something to think about. Crowd don’t seem too interested though. I guess there’s the vibe surrounding the outcome bringing them down. M-Dogg gets a tag and Kaz has no problems grounding him right away. Storm tags himself back in. Kaz complains about it because he’s the champ so we get a 3-way instead. They actually run some nice 3-way spots ending in a dropkick standoff. Babi runs in and starts clotheslining chumps. Babi fakes a dive or he gets gassed running across the ring. Not sure. They run a nice spot where everyone gets stretched over the ropes. Nothing new but a nice addition to the match. M-Dogg tries a bridging roll up but that leaves him open for the Tazmission. Luckily for him he’s just about near enough to the ropes to survive. Storm tags in and this time Kaz leaves. Storm starts rope running into a top rope HEADLOCK. Kaz joins in with a top rope ARMLOCK. Babi adds in an ANKLELOCK. Of course the ropes break. “HOLY SHIT!” Slingshot legdrop from “the coolest person”. That gets 2. Kaz breaks out the bridging Electric Chair for 2. Camel Clutch! Everyone loves the Sheik. M-Dogg breaks out the DVD over the knee to escape further punishment. Storm in with the Fantastic Four and the lariat. They flub the rewind rana. M-Dogg wasn’t really in the right position for it. M-Dogg with the Michi Driver for 2. Babi finally gets a tag in for the first time. M-Dogg seems to be a little gassed. He struggles with a tope so Kaz shows him with a suicide dive looks like by flying way over the top. Storm gets called upon to dive; DOUBLE SPRINGBOARD PLANCHAAAAA! Storm looks for the Rewind Super Rana but M-Dogg is agile enough to land on his feet. Kaz, probably still considering him the greatest threat, dropkicks him into the Wonderwhirl though and M-Dogg is first out.
Kaz hits Storm with a slingshot DDT. I get the feeling both guys just need a little polishing at this point in their careers. Kaz has improved but not at the rate he was back in 2004. Storm blocks Wave of the Future and connects with a DDT for 2. Babi gets a blind tag and they run the sunset flip/release German suplex spot perfectly. “Every time I tag in I only get hurt” – Babi. “It’s what makes time travel possible” sayeth Frankie looking to set up the Flux Capacitor. They end up countering up top and Storm gets a DDT off the top. Obviously he doesn’t get a pin or it’d be over and Kaz would lose his title. Besides Babi makes the save when the pin does go down. Babi’s bumping leaves a lot to be desired but when you need a big man spot, like say a diving spear, he has the goods for that. Storm cops one and counts lights.
Kaz v Babi for the belt then. Babi mocks the whole “coolest” persona provoking a series of strikes from Kaz. He charges recklessly though and gets belly to belly suplexed into the buckles for 2. Babi goes for the Wind Up Urinage but Kaz counters into the Wave of the Future. Delayed pin gets 2. Vander Pyle is out here to watch now. He’s Adam Pearce’s manager for those with short term memory loss. Kaz gets distracted and Babi hits the Wind Up Urinage but now Vander Pyle jumps on the apron. Babi slaps him off. Kaz lines up a YAKUZAAAAAAAAAA KIIIIIICK for the win. ***. Fun 3-way stuff but the belt was never in danger.
POST MATCH Adam Pearce runs in and puts the boots to both Kaz and Patrick Hernandez. YUS! Seems Pearce wants that title belt. Pearce tries to replicate the Terry Funk-Ric Flair piledriver spot but the table breaks. Oh, NOW he’s pissed. He plays it safe with table #2 by hitting the piledriver OFF THE APRON THROUGH THE TABLE. Pearce poses with the belt and claims that belt is his destiny. Vander Pyle says Pearce is still the #1 contender because he didn’t lose. He tells Kaz they’ll do any match he wants at the next show and take that belt. Great angle!
PWG tag titles – Double Dragon v Strongstyle Thugs
Danielson takes offence to the streamers that are thrown at him. There’s a guy chanting “Dragon” and Danielson looks over and says “what, me?” and the guy is all “well, both of you”. The thing about Danielson is sometimes he just goes out there and has a blast. I just wish he’d more clearly define who he was going to be before he went out there but he also has the deal of making it up as he goes along, as all great wrestlers do, but that makes booking him into angles quite hard. Dragon mounts B-Boy as he did earlier with Lost but gets caught in an armbar because B-Boy is more capable. He lifts the smaller B-Boy up and kicks him in the spine. Homicide in surprisingly early but then he is tough as shoe leather. Dragon headbutts him because of the head injury earlier and grounds him. Danielson gets a tag and he starts fucking around. I don’t even know what he’s doing but Homicide isn’t amused or impressed. Danielson goofs around some more and tags out. It’s clear he’s shifted totally over to comedy, which is a bit of a shame, as he goes to kick Homicide while the 187 is working Dragon’s back and ‘Cide catches the boot into a full nelson therefore locking up both Dragons. I could have done without the goofing with the belts on the line. Danielson gets serious when he’s faced by B-Boy and starts showing him his superior technical skills. Homicide in and Danielson goes to tag but Homicide wants him. Danielson wrestles him out of a knucklelock into a great grounded Abdominal Stretch. He’s real serious now. Danielson kneels on Homicide’s face preventing a clean break. “I HAVE TILL FIVE”. Homicide remembers this when denying Danielson a clean break in the corner. Jabberjaw is doing some great refereeing here. He’s positionally aware of the submissions and the pins and he’s in a good place to call it all and see any cheating. Dragon gets a tag and discovers that B-Boy is in hard hitting form as he levels Dragon THREE times with strikes. That’s not totally unheard of but B-Boy made it look easy. Danielson schools Homicide for a while with a nice cravat but Homicide is up for the occasional cheating and pulls the hair. Jabberjaw does make his first mistake by allowing Homicide to use a small joint lock on Super Dragon. Outside so Dragon can throw Homicide into the chairs. Double Dragon keep Homicide isolated by knocking B-Boy off the apron a lot. B-Boy eventually gets the tag and he has a lot of pent up aggression to let up. FACE WASHES ALL ROUND! He’s treating Super Dragon like a bitch and to my amazement Dragon is letting him do it. Danielson is in no mood to lie down though and hits a superplex. Homicide is back in and he wants the Cop Killer. Danielson rolling forearms him in the face to set up the CATTLE MUTILATION. B-Boy stomps him to break that. Dragon tags in and looks for the Psycho Driver countered into the Cop Killer countered back into the PSYCHO DRIVER but B-Boy saves and clocks Dragon with a SHOTEI. Danielson piles in, sends B-Boy outside and wipes out the first two rows with an elbow suicida. Dragon goes for the missile dropkick/senton spot but B-Boy sees that coming and swats him away. SHINING WIZARDOOOOO. Jabberjaw counts 3 but there was a kick out. COP KILLAAAAAAAAA. Now it’s definitely over and Super Dragon takes the loss while Danielson is still on the floor. **3/4. Not really the ideal finale. Super Dragon looked a bit unmotivated for whatever reason. B-Boy really stepped up during the night though and you’d consider him a main event player as a result. Which is a bonus.
POST MATCH Crowd gets a rousing “PWG” chant going. Danielson is still down.
That’s the end of the show.
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